QSR Landscape

Quick-service franchise brands, ranked by what they cost to run.

Directory

The quick-service franchise fee table

Every quick-service brand in this set ranked by total ongoing fee — royalty plus advertising funds — with investment, franchise fee and Item 19, read out of the filings.

13 brands, every figure from a filing Reviewed 2026-08-15

A franchisor’s royalty is the number everyone quotes. It is rarely the number you pay. Underneath it sit a national brand fund, a required local advertising spend, and sometimes a technology charge, each disclosed on its own row of Item 6 and never added up for you.

This table adds them up. Thirteen live offerings, from a six-unit German döner shop to a 323-unit hot-dog chain, ranked by the total percentage of gross sales the franchisor can require every month. The cheapest brand in the set takes five per cent; the dearest takes eleven, and can raise part of that with nothing written in as a ceiling. On a shop turning over a million dollars a year, that spread is sixty thousand dollars a year, every year, before rent.

Other cuts of the same filings: by system size, by age, by entry cost. German döner is a short US list. The platter chains a kebab buyer gets handed sit in Mediterranean and halal. Each brand’s page has the founded year, headquarters, unit count, fees and Item 19 status.

Ranked by total ongoing fee

Royalty plus every advertising contribution the franchisor can require, lowest first. How this is worked out.

# Brand Ongoing fee Total investment Franchise fee Units Founded Item 19
1 Döner Haus German döner · New York, NY · founded 2023 5% $359,500–$586,000 $35,000 6 2023 Yes
2 Wienerschnitzel Hot dogs & sausages · Irvine, CA · founded 1961 6% $32,000 323 1961 Yes
3 Pepper Lunch Asian fast casual · Rolling Hills Estates, CA · founded 1994 7% $609,200–$1,471,500 $50,000 6 1994 Yes
4 Shah's Halal Food Mediterranean & halal · Amityville, NY · founded 2005 7% $197,000–$405,000 $30,000 58 2005 No
5 375° Chicken 'n Fries Chicken · New York, NY 8% $324,100–$521,500 $40,000 5 Yes
6 Dog Haus Hot dogs & sausages · Pasadena, CA · founded 2010 8% $357,437–$625,800 $40,000 58 2010 Yes
7 Mad for Chicken Chicken · Westbury, NY · founded 2017 8% $320,125–$687,700 $35,000 19 2017 Yes
8 The Halal Guys Mediterranean & halal · Astoria, NY · founded 1990 9% $461,400–$1,333,500 $60,000 93 1990 No
9 Capriotti's Sandwiches · Las Vegas, NV · founded 1976 9.5% $417,100–$748,500 $40,000 145 1976 Yes
10 Crave Hot Dogs and BBQ Hot dogs & sausages · Cheyenne, WY · founded 2018 10% $301,500–$1,192,500 $45,000 26 2018 No
11 The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill Mediterranean & halal · West Palm Beach, FL · founded 2017 10% $582,014–$1,088,560 $39,500 31 2017 Yes
12 German Doner Kebab German döner · Auburn Hills, MI · founded 2017 11% $690,500–$1,123,000 $30,000 7 2017 Yes
13 bluTaco Tacos · Holts Summit, MO · founded 2017 Not disclosed None 34 2017 No

Not currently offering in the US

Listed because searchers still find them and treat them as live alternatives.

  • Doner Shack — Not currently offering franchises in the United States. The brand's own site lists US enquiries as on hold, and there is no approved current-year FDD, so there are no fees to compare.